The Representative on Freedom of the Media from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has expressed concern over the "indiscriminate detention" of journalists reporting on street protests in Moscow and recent cyber attacks on Russian media websites.

Dunja Mijatovic said in a statement that "What happened in recent days must be thoroughly investigated and sanctions taken against those law enforcement officers who violated the rights of journalists."

Reports say that riot police harassed and detained dozens of reporters who were covering street gatherings in Moscow from 6 May to 9 May.

On 6 May, the websites of the "Kommersant" newspaper, "Bolshoi Gorod" magazine, the Ekho Moskvy radio station, the Dozhd TV station, and that of the slon.ru online news service were made temporarily unavailable just as some of them were planning to broadcast live from the scene of the protests.